Lost and Found
by CherryFlavouredPoison
Summary: Kurt loses his cat. Blaine finds it. Pre-Klaine AU.


Title: Lost and Found

Author: CherryFlavouredPoison

Beta(s): EmeraldEuphoria and AuthorAtHeart1049 (Thanks a bunch!)

Pairing: Pre-Relationship Kurt/Blaine

Setting: Alternative Universe (AU). Ending of season 4/Beginning of season 5. Rachel and Kurt live together in New York; he and Blaine have never met in High School.

Enjoy!

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><p>Kurt stuck yet another poster to a street lamp, sighing deeply. He was really losing hope now. After all, Orangey had run away over two weeks ago, he really should've given up at this point, seeing as how no one had made to contact him. He glanced down at the armful of posters he'd been holding, just to make sure that all his contact details were correct.<p>

The posters were pretty much nondescript – a black and white photo of Orangey, Kurt's address and phone number, and that's about it. Rachel had mentioned something along the lines that it would be worth giving some sort of payment to the eventual finder – she claimed that it might be more encouraging for people to respond. Kurt, however, wasn't so sure about that – the two of them barely had enough money to pay the rent, with him earning the minimal wage at the diner and Rachel so engrossed in her Funny Girl rehearsals that she barely worked anymore. He really didn't have any extra cash to pay some unknown person for finding his cat.

Kurt had found Orangey when he was meeting his seven month mark in New York. It was a skinny, pitiful little thing wandering through Bushwick. Kurt had seen it before a couple of times, when he was leaving for school every morning and when he was coming back from work in the evenings. And one day, he just scooped the creature up and carried it home with him. Just as he set it on the floor of the apartment, he realized he didn't really know how to take care of a cat; though he knew that the animal certainly needed a bath. A quick Google search let him know all he needed on the process of bathing a cat.

While he was elbow deep in soapy water (of course, sporting a few deep scratches on his hands), Rachel came back, and momentarily froze. That is, before she went berserk and started screeching about cat hair and allergies, and what if she lost her voice because of them, then of course reminded Kurt that they really hadn't the money to have a pet. However, one glance at the cat's muzzle melted her to the core.

Orangey was not a very demanding cat, as it turned out. It would hide in some corner of the loft, usually sleeping, and waking up only to ask for a snack. Kurt and Rachel both loved it's company. And now, because of one stupid mistake, the cat was gone.

It happened on the day when Kurt, surprisingly enough, had overslept – he had a late shift at the diner the day before – waking up a whole forty minutes later than usual, which meant that he would have to cut his moisturizing routine short. He also skipped breakfast completely and dashed out of the apartment, so he wouldn't be late for the train. And somehow, in that frenzy, he must have forgotten to bolt the door properly.

Rachel was the one that noticed Orangey was missing.

When Kurt came back from school that day, she told him that the cat was gone, and Kurt promptly remembered how he forgot to close the door, meaning that it was because of him that it had gone missing.

That brought him to the current situation; sticking posters informing about Orangey's disappearance anywhere within a two block radius from the apartment. Still, since no one has contacted him in the last two weeks, it seemed pretty unlikely that he'll ever see Orangey again.

With dejected spirits, Kurt dragged his feet back in the direction of the apartment. He climbed the ten flights of stairs, slid the door open and... Inexplicably, almost tripped over some ill placed object.

A fluffy, ginger object.

"Orangey?" Kurt asked, completely shocked, "Is that you?"

Of course, the object bolted in the direction of the make-shift kitchen before he could cast a second glance at it. He followed, after taking off his shoes, and met a scene that completely surprised him.

Rachel was sitting by the table and Orangey was there too, only the feline was curled up on the lap of an incredibly, unfairly cute guy.

"Kurt!" Rachel squealed, before he could so much as open his mouth. Her squeal made the cute guy look up from his lapful of cat and lock eyes with Kurt.

Kurt had to admit, he'd never seen such a gorgeous shade of hazel on anyone before.

"You won't believe what just happened! Orangey's been found!"

"Yes, I can see that, Rachel." He answered, his gaze still focused on the handsome stranger, before turning to look at Rachel, "And that is...?"

"Blaine Anderson." The stranger – Blaine – stood up to shake his hand, "I live in the neighborhood and I saw him," He nodded towards the cat, now curled up on the chair that Blaine had vacated, "Wandering about, so I picked him up, and well, I haven't seen your posters up until recently so, sorry that I've been keeping Peppard away from you for so long." He finished sheepishly.

"Oh, that's absolutely no problem at all! We're just really glad that someone has brought Orangey back. Well, Kurt is especially. He even mentioned that if the person who found it happened to be a young gay guy, he would be willing to go on a date with him." Rachel smiled almost impishly.

"Rachel." Kurt hissed in mortification, cheeks dusting with a pink hue, too embarrassed to notice that Blaine was blushing as well.

"Oh, Blaine doesn't mind, he's gay too." She waved her hand carelessly, "So, I'm gonna leave you now, so you can discuss the details, okay?" She patted her thigh, making the cat look up at her and trail after her as she disappeared behind one of the privacy curtains.

"I am so sorry," Kurt apologized immediately after she'd gone, "It was once, and I was really desperate... I mean, not for a date, but for Orangey to come back, and, gosh, now I'm rambling..."

"No, no, it's fine!" Blaine was quick to assure.

They glanced at each other, shyly, cheeks still flushed.

It was a meow next to Kurt's calf that caught their attention. Orangey was sitting there, having escaped Rachel apparently. Kurt squatted down and petted the cat's spine in long strokes, trying to look anywhere but at Blaine, before realizing something, "What did you say you named him?"

"Um, Peppard. I know it's probably a horrible name for a cat, but he really reminded me of Holly Golightly's cat..." He crouched down as well, and almost hesitantly reached his hand out to pet Orangey/Peppard's head. His fingertips brushed the side of Kurt's hand lightly.

"It really isn't," Kurt smiled softly, "He made me think of Breakfast at Tiffany's too,"

They locked gazes once more, but this time the distance between them was way, way smaller.

"Um," Blaine muttered, breaking the silence, "About that date... Please tell me if I'm being too forward, but maybe you'd like to have... coffee or something?"

"Yeah, that sounds great." Kurt breathed, a bit in awe because he'd just been asked on a date by a cute boy.

He briefly wondered if it was too early to have a crush.


End file.
